This dissertation, entitled Utopia Refracted through Mandarin Lenses, examines the legacy of Thomas More's Utopia (1516) in three aspects: translations, paratexts, and afterlives. It explores how Utopia - as a book and as a construct - has been appropriated into the Mandarin context during the process of linguistic and cultural transfer in the acts of translation. Employing close reading, instrumental case study, and the concept of paratexts to survey fourteen standalone Mandarin translations of Utopia, this study aims to fill in the gap of a previously neglected aspect of utopian studies, especially its paratextual apparatus, which has been almost entirely overlooked (with only one exception in 2003) since its first translation in 1935. This dissertation is structured into four chapters: the first chapter contextualises Utopia in the original Renaissance context by providing its early publication history (Latin and English) and by analysing the modes of narrative - fiction and dialogue - in which More's self-fashioning is manifest and where his hypothetical heterocosm is materialised. All this substantiates how fiction, dialogue, and paratexts are integral to the shaping of Utopia, without which a holistic reading is not feasible. The second chapter examines the introduction of the concept of...

Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Jena. / Datei im HTML-Format und Datei im TXT-Format.

This thesis discusses Utopian thought and compares the Utopias of Plato, Sir Thomas More, Sir Francis Bacon, and Jonathan Swift in the areas of government, education, and social problems.

Diss.--Katholisch-theologische Fakultät--Münster--Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 512-538.

Issued also as thesis, Münster. / Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Critical theory has historically situated the beginning of the “modern” era of subjectivity near the end of the seventeenth century. Michel Foucault himself once said in an interview that modernity began with the writings of the late seventeenth-century philosopher Benedict Spinoza. But an examination of early modern English utopian literature demonstrates that a modern notion of subjectivity can be found in texts that pre-date Spinoza. In this dissertation, I examine four utopian texts—Thomas More’s Utopia, Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis, Margaret Cavendish’s Description of a New World, Called the Blazing World, and Henry Neville’s Isle of Pines—through the paradigm of Jacques Lacan’s tripartite model of subjectivity—the Imaginary, the Symbolic, and the Real. To mediate between Lacan’s psychoanalytic model and the historical aspects of these texts, such as their relationship with print culture and their engagement with political developments in seventeenth-century England, I employ the theories of the Marxist-Lacanian philosopher, Slavoj Žižek, to show that “early modern” subjectivity is in in fact no different from critical theory’s “modern” subject, despite pre-dating the supposed inception of such subjectivity. In addition, I engage with other prominent theorists, including Fredric Jameson, Jacques Derrida, and Donna Haraway, to come to an understanding about the ways in which critical theory can be useful to understand not only early modern literature, but also the contemporary, “real” world and the subjectivity we all seek to attain.

This dissertation examines the conceptualization of the ideal society in Western culture in relation to changes in communication modes. The utopian discourse is defined by a concern with the relationship between language and reality. I explore this concern as a reflection of the theoretical disposition invited by changes in communication modes, which are perceived as crises of representation. Plato and Thomas More’s enlightened communities in the Republic and Utopia reflect comparable idealistic perspectives on education. In my view, this optimism stems from the social reality of growing literacies with the advent of the alphabet and printing, respectively. I contend that these writers are animated by an ethical impulse to teach their readers that language is representation. From the vantage point of this knowledge, each individual may employ language symbolically in order to create and perpetuate a moral and spiritual mode of thought. I argue that the discourse of the ideal is the symbolic expression of humanity’s engagement with death, the ultimate existential concern made acute by the aspect of historical discontinuity in the crisis of representation. Plato and More exhibit comparable efforts to open to their readers the superior space of critical reflexivity which they themselves inhabit. From this conceptual, pre-representational space of conscious choice, language is subjected to achieving spiritual progress. I introduce the concept of post-utopia, which describes a pragmatic moment when the relationship between author and the ideal society is brought into the foreground and reinforced as a way of addressing concerns with textual authority. I examine these developments in Augustine’s De Civitate Dei, François Rabelais’s episode of the Abbaye de Thélème in Gargantua, and Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis. These authors draw on the ideologies of representation inherent in utopian discourse, and position the authorial figure as link between scriptural teleology and history, ensuring spiritual and societal betterment in the textual cultures of late antiquity and early modernity. The figure of the author emerges as a symbol of history and of man’s ability to assume the limits of the mind and of language.

This dissertation examines the conceptualization of the ideal society in Western culture in relation to changes in communication modes. The utopian discourse is defined by a concern with the relationship between language and reality. I explore this concern as a reflection of the theoretical disposition invited by changes in communication modes, which are perceived as crises of representation. Plato and Thomas More’s enlightened communities in the Republic and Utopia reflect comparable idealistic perspectives on education. In my view, this optimism stems from the social reality of growing literacies with the advent of the alphabet and printing, respectively. I contend that these writers are animated by an ethical impulse to teach their readers that language is representation. From the vantage point of this knowledge, each individual may employ language symbolically in order to create and perpetuate a moral and spiritual mode of thought. I argue that the discourse of the ideal is the symbolic expression of humanity’s engagement with death, the ultimate existential concern made acute by the aspect of historical discontinuity in the crisis of representation. Plato and More exhibit comparable efforts to open to their readers the superior space of critical reflexivity which they themselves inhabit. From this conceptual, pre-representational space of conscious choice, language is subjected to achieving spiritual progress. I introduce the concept of post-utopia, which describes a pragmatic moment when the relationship between author and the ideal society is brought into the foreground and reinforced as a way of addressing concerns with textual authority. I examine these developments in Augustine’s De Civitate Dei, François Rabelais’s episode of the Abbaye de Thélème in Gargantua, and Francis Bacon’s New Atlantis. These authors draw on the ideologies of representation inherent in utopian discourse, and position the authorial figure as link between scriptural teleology and history, ensuring spiritual and societal betterment in the textual cultures of late antiquity and early modernity. The figure of the author emerges as a symbol of history and of man’s ability to assume the limits of the mind and of language.

Chapter I. This is a critical study of the rhetoric of Sir Thomas More and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and of plays in which they are portrayed. The purpose is to discover whether or not the rhetoric of the playwrights preserves the integrity of the ideas of the central characters as evidenced by the rhetoric found in their original works . Chapter II. Rhetorical criticism is rendering a judgment on the fitness, correctness or appropriateness of those discourses, spoken or written the aim of which is to influence the readers or hearers. There is much variety in methods of rhetorical criticism. This study will use the dramatistic pentad proposed by Kenneth Burke. Its elements are act, agent, agency, scene and purpose. It will also employ the naming of strategies, another term from Burke meaning methods or attitudes. In addition judgments will be made on the basis of significant ideas, creative choice of language, integrity and credibility. Chapter III. Sir Thomas More was a lawyer, scholar and public official in England at the time of King Henry VIII. He incurred the King’s displeasure by his refusal to support him in his efforts for a divorce. He believed strongly in the need to preserve one’s integrity by obeying his conscience. In his trial speech, his main strategies were related to the importance of conscience and his knowledge of the law. He was pronounced guilty of treason and executed. Chapter IV. In a Man for All Seasons, the playwright has used several theatrical strategies that help to focus attention on More, the central character. He is presented as a genial man of firm reliance on the law and obedience to his conscience. On the basis of a comparison of the rhetoric in the play with that of More, it is concluded that the playwright faithfully preserved the integrity of More’s ideas. Chapter V. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a theologian, pastor and teacher of Germany during the Nazi regime. He opposed the Nazis on theological grounds, and gradually came to believe that he must become active personally and politically. He joined the resistance movement in a plot to assassinate Hitler. He was imprisoned and executed. His chief motive for action was obedience to God. In selected writings, he is seen to have a strong faith in God, and great hope for the future. Chapter VI. The Cup of Trembling is a play based on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, though using mostly fictional names. Again, the playwright uses devices that bring out the hero’s character. His struggle against the Nazis is seen to involve a corresponding struggle within himself as he makes decisions about his role in the situation. His faith in God and obedience to God are expressed, as well as his hope for the future. On the basis of similar ideas expressed in both media, it is concluded that the playwright succeeded in preserving the integrity of Bonhoeffer’s ideas. Chapter VI I. The key idea of conscience is seen to have been preserved by both playwrights. A number of major ideas were traded from the original figure to the play, and their integrity was seen to be preserved. Therefore, it is concluded that the playwrights did preserve the integrity of the ideas of the two men in the rhetoric of their plays. The major implication of this conclusion is that drama is an effective means of expressing the rhetoric of important historical figures.